[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6473-H6474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Maxine Waters) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor 
the life and legacy of South African President Nelson Mandela on what 
would have been his 100th birthday.
  President Mandela, or ``Mandiba'' as he was affectionately called, 
was a revolutionary and transformative leader, who forever changed the 
world through his steadfast dedication to freedom, equality, and human 
rights.
  After spending 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela became the first 
Black South African to be elected President in what was also the first 
free, multiracial, democratic election in South African history.
  While President Mandela used his administration to dismantle 
apartheid, combat institutional racism, and begin the process of racial 
reconciliation in his country, his efforts also taught the world the 
power of one man having the fortitude to sacrifice his own ideals for a 
cause greater than himself.
  To me, Nelson Mandela is more than a world-renowned hero. I had the 
distinct honor and privilege of calling him a friend. His leadership of 
the international antiapartheid movement encouraged me to take action 
here in the United States, where I served as the Los Angeles chair of 
the Free South Africa Movement, organized countless antiapartheid 
rallies in Los Angeles, led a sit-in at the South African Consulate 
General's office in Los Angeles, and was even arrested during a protest 
at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C. I was also a board 
member of and worked nationally with TransAfrica, one of the most 
prominent antiapartheid advocacy groups in the United States.
  As a member of the California State Assembly at that time, I fought 
for the passage of Assembly Bill 134, which forced California to divest 
$12 billion in State pension funds tied to the apartheid regime in 
South Africa.
  In 1990, I chaired the committee in Los Angeles that brought over 
90,000 people together in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to welcome 
Nelson Mandela into the United States, and I also traveled with the 
official U.S. delegation to South Africa in 1994 to attend his 
inauguration as President of South Africa.
  In 1998, I was honored to welcome President Mandela to the United 
States once again, this time to receive the United States Congressional 
Gold Medal.
  In honor of his 95th birthday in 2013, I organized an event here in 
Washington, D.C., called the Celebration of the Life, Legacy and Values 
of Nelson R. Mandela in Emancipation Hall of the United States Capitol 
Visitor Center. The celebration was attended by my colleagues in the 
Congressional Black Caucus, leaders from both the United States House 
and Senate, and representatives of national and international civil 
rights and humanitarian groups.
  As we reflect on Nelson Mandela's memory today, let us remember what 
he once said: ``What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have 
lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that 
will determine the significance of the life we lead.''
  Few embody this quote better than Nelson Mandela himself, and it is 
my

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sincere hope that my own career in public service can live up to his 
extraordinary example.

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